WARSAW, Poland (JTA) — Poland’s Supreme Court rejected a government request to return the extradition case of filmmaker Roman Polanski to a Krakow court.
“Even if we agree with certain views contained in the appeal, we found that the ruling issued by the Krakow Court didn’t violate the law,” Judge Michal Laskowski said Tuesday.
Polanski, a French-Polish director who is Jewish, fled the United States nearly four decades ago after being convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl. An October 2015 ruling in a Krakow court blocked his extradition. Attorney General Zbigniew Ziobro said the ruling violated Poland’s extradition agreements with the U.S.
Ziobro said he disagreed with the Krakow judge’s claim that Polanski had, in effect, already been punished, and criticized as “incomprehensible” his comments that Polanski would face inhumane treatment in the United States.
The Supreme Court does not rule on guilt or innocence, it only takes into account the possibility of violations of applicable procedures.
In 1977, Polanski was convicted in a Los Angeles court of having sex with the minor girl. Prior to the judgment, he left the U.S.
Fearing arrest, Polanski did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony in 2003 when he received the Oscar for “The Pianist.” He currently lives in France.
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